Reviews of silent film releases on home video. Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett and the Silent Era Company. All Rights Reserved.

Nickelodia Volume 1 (1911-1915)

Contents: A Country Cupid (1911), The Adventures of Billy (1911), The Charge of the Light Brigade (1912), The Egyptian Mummy (1914), In the Tennessee Hills (1915) and Broncho Billy’s Sentence (1915).

Assembled as a representation of a typical nickelodeon programme, this collection of dramas and a comedy makes for a quick overview of short films produced in the earliest days of the American feature film era, the end of Nickelodeon era.

This DVD-R edition has been mastered from fine-grain 16mm reduction prints. While we have not viewed the entire disc, here is what we saw at first glance.

A Country Cupid (1911) has been transferred from a very-good print, with a good range of greytones, that may originate from a Library of Congress paper print.

The Adventures of Billy (1911) has been transferred from a very-good Blackhawk Films 16mm reduction print.

The Charge of the Light Brigade (1912) is from a good but contrasty 16mm reduction print that is nonetheless quite watchable. The slight color-tinting helps holds the picture together.

The Egyptian Mummy (1914) has been transferred from a very-good print, with well-balanced greytones and good image detail.

We are quite pleased with the piano accompaniment by Frederick Hodges as it is well-performed, well-recorded and always an appropriate complement to the story’s action. We recommend this above-average small-company video collection.

UNKNOWN VIDEO has discontinued business and this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is . . .

Other SHORT DRAMA FILMS of the silent era available on home video.